Friends,
Do you know Martin Shkreli? He grabbed headlines in 2015 when he raised the price of an antiparasitic drug his company owned by over 5,000%. Later, he was sentenced to prison for securities fraud.
But he was released in 2022 and has been making a name for himself anew as a retail investor. In June, he appeared on a podcast with noted FinX (finance on X / Twitter) personality Shay Boloor. They discussed quantum computing stocks, and things got heated.
- Shkreli said he was raising capital to bet against quantum computing stocks.
- Boloor pointed out that Shkreli had been wrong on the bet thus far and was digging his hole further.
This past week, the interview bubbled up again.
The reason: thus far, Boloor has been vindicated. IonQ and Rigetti Computing -- for instance -- are both up over 500% since going public, and both are up over 70% since the interview.
But to us, that's besides the point. What we noticed the most was how sure each side seemed to be of their argument. It was personal. There didn't seem to be room to consider that they might be wrong.
In short, both sides were certain of their thesis.
Now, don't get us wrong -- conviction is absolutely necessary to be a successful investor. However, over the long run, that conviction needs to be continually and relentlessly tested by a healthy dose of uncertainty.
This is not a fun process. It will make you feel uncomfortable, appear weak, and second-guess your moves...over the short-term.
But that is the price you pay for long-term results.
The exact same process will eventually lead you to feel comfortable with discomfort, operate from a position of strength, and leave room to change your mind.
Accepting discomfort and uncertainty: the cost of admission for long-term outperformance -- in investing and in life.
Wishing you investing success,
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Brian Feroldi, Brian Stoffel, & Brian Withers
Long-Term Mindset
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